Man Hands
by Mackie Effing Mad
Summary: Oneshot. On the way to visit their teacher, Ed and Al take Winry to Rush Valley. While there, they run into someone they thought they'd never see again.


**So after my very long, very unexplained hiatus I suppose you guys deserve a new fanfic from me. I suck, I know, but oh well. If you've been reading my other stuff, know that I'll do my best to work on it soon. If you're new to my fanfics, then...y'know...welcome, and stuff ;). I've been watching FMA a lot lately..and I figured I'd write something with an OC just to see if I could. Also, there aren't a lot of OCs that I can find. So yeah, this is purely experimental, OC is strongly based off of everyone's favorite female main because I'm just dipping a toe in the water, so to speak. So here's my oneshot. **

**Disclaimer: I do not Fullmetal. Sadface.**

**Man Hands**

Getting off the train, the girl stretched her arms high above her head. Her yawn was loud and slightly obnoxious, but she didn't care that some people looked at her strangely as they passed. Finishing off her yawn with a big grin she placed her hands on her hips and sighed, glancing down at the dog that was circling her legs. It was a big German Shepard with a wagging tail and a lolling tongue. It watched her with melted caramel eyes.

"Well, Sully, here we are. Rush Valley!" She exclaimed loudly, flicking a thumb passed her nose. "We finally made it. The automail capital of the world!" She stuck hands into the pockets of her baggy denim pants. "We can start over here; make a new life!" She switched her optimistic gaze to the sky, where the sun was shining bright. She sighed happily and tied her thick black hair into a messy knot on the side of her head, resting it on her shoulder. The girl bent to pick up her trunk that lay at her combat boot clad feet and straightened with it under her arm. She whistled, short and quiet, to catch Sully's attention. "C'mon, boy. Time to get going." The dog panted happily and followed as she began on her way.

**...**

Edward and Alphonse Elric tried to keep their distance as Winry squealed and danced around Rush Valley, ogling each piece of automail that revealed itself to her.

"Oh just look at this genius craftsmanship! It's so sleek-so _light_! This isn't automail, this is _art_!"

Edward scratched the back of his neck and sighed, looking to his brother who returned his glance with a heavy exhale of his own. Neither of them really wanted to be there, but Winry had begged them. They hadn't been able to say no. So here they were-two brothers trailing behind a hyperactive blonde.

"Winry, come on, already!" Edward groaned, obviously annoyed. A vein was clearly visible on his forehead. He brushed his blond bangs out of his eyes. The girl paid him no mind as she continued to gush over each individual piece of mechanical limb. He rolled his eyes and huffed, crossing his arms like a pouting child.

While he was fuming, something bumped his shoulder and sent him stumbling forward.

"Oh _shit_. I'm so sorry, little guy!" A feminine voice shouted.

That was the final straw for Edward Elric.

**...**

"Ah, Letti!" A muscular and very tan man exclaimed with a huge smile. He wore a black wife beater and overalls that hung unbuckled from his hips, a black bandanna was tied around his upper right arm. "And Sully! Good to see you made it in one piece!" He bent to scratch the excited dog behind the ears.

The girl-Letti-dropped her trunk onto the floor and stretched her arm across her chest, which was covered by a black cropped tee. "Hey there, Thierry! It's been a while. Thanks for letting me move in, it's been tough trying to survive on my own." She gave a bashful grin and scratched the back of her head. "This means a lot."

Thierry gave a small and slightly sad smile, "Of course, Letti. It's the least I can do for the daughter of my two oldest friends." Sully sniffed his hand, sulking because he was no longer being stroked. "Go ahead and take the room in the back. I cleared it out so you can settle in easier."

Letti gave a single nod. "Thanks so much!" She hauled her trunk down the hallway and into the last room. The door was open, and Letti could see a twin bed with plain beige sheets and a single pillow. A wooden nightstand sat beside the bed, between it and the window that let in a bit of light. She stepped in slowly, noticing Sully as he padded past her legs and sniffed around the small room before making himself comfy on the bed. Letti gave an affectionate smile. She set her trunk down at the foot of the bed and unlocked it. Clothes were folded neatly inside, and atop them all rested a single wooden picture frame.

The picture was from when she was young and still lived in Resembool. It was a group photo of her family and their closest friends. A beautiful dark haired woman stood beside a handsome man in a oil stained outfit. They were her parents. A small woman with her grey hair in a bun who wore wire rimmed circular glasses stood smiling beside them. It was Pinako Rockbell, a woman who had been like a grandmother to Letti. She was a talented automail technician and Letti aspired to be just like her. Another laughing woman stood at Pinako's right, her chestnut hair tied into a tail and a white apron tied around a pretty purple dress. That was Trisha Elric. At the bottom of the picture, four children played happily with two dogs-Sully and Den, who was a black and white hound with an automail leg himself.

Letti was the only one with striking black hair, cut short back then-like a boy. The only other girl in the picture was Winry Rockbell-Pinako's granddaughter. She was hanging off of Letti's arm and laughing as Den tried to lick her face. Then there were two boys, one with short dirty blond hair and the other with light yellow/blond chin-length hair. The two sons Trisha had raised on her own after their father had left.

_Edward and Alphonse, huh? Haven't seen them since we moved. And that was before their mom died. _Letti thought with a reminiscent smile. "I wonder how those two knuckleheads are." With gentle hands She picked up the photo and walked over to set it down on the nightstand. She missed those times desperately, though she knew missing them did no good. If only her parents hadn't gone out that stormy night...maybe they'd still be here. She shook her head stubbornly and rolled her neck a few times to crack it. It gave a loud pop and she sighed happily.

"Hey, Letti! You think you could run some errands for me?" Thierry shouted from his work room. She turned on her heel and made her way down the hall again. At the other end there were a flight of stairs that led to the basement-where Thierry did all his work on automail.

She leaned against the railing and called down to him. "What do you need?"

"There should be a list on the table in the front room. It's a list of parts I ordered. Do you think you could run into town and pick them up? They're all payed for, you just need to sign off on a few things."

"Sure thing. I'll head out now."

"Thanks!"

With that Letti turned and walked back to the front room where she'd first entered. It doubled as a kitchen, since the place was so small. Immediately she saw the note Thierry had referenced and she swiped it up. She whistled once for Sully, who came running, and they left into the hot summer air.

**...**

People bustled around the girl and her dog on the streets. Letti tried not to get trampled as she searched for the shop where she could pick up Thierry's order. It had been a while since she had last been here, and she was slightly lost.

Letti heaved a huge hopeless sigh and let her shoulders sag. "Ah, we're never gonna find this stupid place. How in the hell am I supposed to remember where it is?" Shielding her light brown eyes from the sun, she scanned the area around her. "Where are you hiding?" She groaned. Sully sat at her feet, his tail thumping the ground happily. She glared at the dog and poked its nose, "If you come along on errands I expect you to help." He cocked his head to the side and panted. Letti rolled her eyes, "At least _one _of us is having fun." She motioned for him to follow and trudged along. They walked for so long that Letti stopped paying attention to the road ahead and let her eyes wander to other shops and rest stops. She could smell fried foods and oil on the air and it brought a grin to her face. _This place could definitely start to feel like home._

Eventually, her lack of watching where she walked caught up with her and she ran into a short blonde in a red jacket and black pants. He grunted and stumbled forward. "_Damn_!"

"Oh shit!" Letti swore, putting a hand over her mouth as she watched him regain his balance. "Sorry little guy."

At her last words he stiffened, fists clenching. A growl erupted from his throat and a tall man in a strange suit of armor beside him tensed. "Oh no." He mumbled. "Brother?" His voice was small and childlike, contrary to his intimidating size.

The smaller one whirled on Letti, his golden eyes blazing and fists flailing around him in a way that probably would have knocked her back if the tall one hadn't been holding him by his jacket's collar. "_Who you calling so little that he could fall between a crack in the sidewalk_!?" Letti's eyes widened and she retreated a step. Oh god, she had thought by his size that he was a child.

"Brother, no one said _that_!" The guy in armor was struggling to calm him and his tornado of fists.

Letti raised both hands in a sign of surrender and gave an apologetic smile, sweat dropping. "Hey hey, I'm really sorry, man. I didn't mean to offend you, _really_." Sully perked up and stared straight at the angry blonde, and Letti thought he looked almost...thoughtful. As if he was trying to remember something.

"Yeah, well, watch where you walk next time." He grumbled, brushing his brother off. For a second Letti found something familiar about him, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"I'll try," She replied, bowing in apology. "_Really _sorry."

All of a sudden, Sully started barking wildly and jumped up onto the guy's shirt. The blonde and Letti cried out in unison, both utterly shocked.

"_Hey_, back off!" He shouted.

"Sully what has gotten into you, you crazy dog?" Letti scolded as she attempted to pull him back.

"Wait...Sully?" The guy in the armor spoke up, his tone disbelieving. He pointed to Letti with a big gloved hand. "You said _Sully_, didn't you?"

Letti looked up at him questioningly. "Uh...yeah I did, actually."

Now the blonde looked a little shocked, his eyes widening. "No way." He said.

Clueless as to what was going on, Letti stared wide-eyed between the two brothers. "Um is...something wrong?" She asked.

"Hey, guys, what's taking you so..." A tall and very pretty girl ran up from behind the two boys, but she faltered when she saw Letti. "...long?"

Letti recognised her right away. She remembered the face of her best friend and the trademark ponytail she always kept her long blond hair in. "_Winry_?!"

"Letti!?" All three of them exclaimed in unison.

She eyed each in turn. "_No shit_, it really is you. You even brought these two." She broke into a large grin and flicked a thumb across her nose, "I almost didn't recognise you. Ed. Al."

"_Us_? You're the one who actually looks a little like a _girl_, now!" Edward Elric exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "There's no way we could've known it was you if it weren't for Sully."

Letti's eye twitched slightly, and she clenched her fist tightly. Calmly, she walked over to Ed and rose her fist up. Her sweet smile was still in place as she brought it down hard onto his skull. "WHADDAYA MEAN 'ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE A GIRL NOW'?! LIKE I DIDN'T BEFORE, YOU INSENSITIVE PIPSQUEAK?!"

"DON'T CALL ME A PIPSQUEAK, YOU TOMBOY!" Ed rose from the ground with a huge bump on his head, his eyes full of angry fire and admittedly watering a bit from the throbbing pain. Smoke might as well have been pouring out of his ears.

Winry and Al sweat dropped as they watched the fight ensue. "I guess they never really changed." Winry said weakly, and Alphonse nodded feebly.

**...**

Sitting in a little smoothie shop on the corner, Letti was nursing a sore shoulder and Ed a bump on his head. The little midget had landed a few good hits on her as well. They sat glaring at each other, and if looks could kill they'd both be toast.

Alphonse gave a nervous chuckle, knowing one wrong move could send either of them on another one of their famous rampages. "So, Letti, how have things been with you? We didn't really get to keep in touch after you moved out of Resembool..."

Seemingly calmed for the moment, Letti switched her gaze to Al-the substantially less obnoxious brother from her childhood. She had no clue why he would be wearing that armor, especially in this heat. But he didn't seemed the least bit bothered by the temperature, so she decided she wouldn't question it-at least not for now. She gave a small smile and thought back to the days before she had lost her parents. "Oh things were _great _for a while; dad started teaching me the basics in mechanics and everything, y'know? He even taught me a bit with automail."

Winry perked up at this, "Ah, maybe we can compare techniques sometime!"

"Aha, sounds great." Letti grinned widely at her friend.

"So what brings you to Rush Valley? Your parents nearby?" Edward grumbled, hand propping up his cheek and golden eyes fixated stubbornly to the left. At this, Letti froze. All of their families had been very close. Trisha and Van had been like an aunt and uncle to Letti, and she was sure the two boys and girl across from her felt the same with her parents. She hadn't thought about how she would break the news to them-mostly because she hadn't really expected to see them again. At least not this soon.

So she sat there, staring at her hands folded neatly on the table, with nothing to say to them. She bit her lip and searched for words that deftly evaded her. _What can I possibly say?_

Ed's curiosity outweighed his temper and he let himself look at her. Her posture surprised him. She was so carefree just a second ago, leaning back in her chair and grinning across the table-n-not like he'd noticed or anything; he was stubbornly ignoring her because of that short comment. But now she was hunched forward and staring down so her bangs hid her eyes. Her hands clasped each other on the tabletop so tightly that her knuckles had already turned white. "Hey, what is it...?" He asked, turning his whole body towards her side of the table. _What did I say?_

Letti regathered herself and forced a shaky smile, raising her head and not allowing herself to show weakness. At her feet, Sully whined softly, nudging her thigh as if he knew that the conversation had taken a somber turn. "Oh nothing, it's just..." Her smile almost slipped, but she inwardly shook herself and held it where it was. "There's been a...bit of an accident."

All three of the teens sitting across from her gave a collective start. They all had noticed her change in behavior, and that statement suggested the worst. "Wait..." Al stammered a bit, hoping with all of his being that it wasn't as bad as he suspected, "Does that mean...?"

"No...it _can't _be..." Winry murmured, her heart sinking. She shook her head slowly, unwilling to believe it.

Letti nodded her head sadly, knowing instantly the conclusion they had come to. "They went out one night, not that long ago. I don't think it's even been a year. They had been fighting quite a bit lately and I told them they should just go to town and have some fun, like they used to," Letti's voice broke. "They said they didn't think they should...but I just couldn't stand being around all the _yelling _anymore and I just..." There wasn't a smile anymore. She couldn't hold it any longer and act as if she didn't feel the guilt every time she thought about it. She scrubbed her eyes tiredly. "There was a huge storm afterwords...visibility was horrible. A car lost control as they were walking home. They said it was almost instantaneous for both of them. The driver was completely fine."

Ed, Al, and Winry sat in complete and utter dismay. The story was horrible, and it wasn't hard to realise that she blamed herself for making them go out that night. Ed felt his own hand moving slowly across the table top to hers, but Winry didn't notice and beat him to it. Both her palms covered Letti's right hand and she stared intently at the girl. "I'm _so _sorry, Letti. I can't believe I wasn't with you! You must've felt so alone!" Ed shook himself-what had he been about to do, anyway?

Letti gave a big grin that wavered slightly every once in a while and shook her head. "I'd moved away and you were all the way in Resembool. There was no way you could've made it over anyway, not with all of the arrangements and everything we had going on."

Al couldn't help but feel as bad as Winry did for not being there. _At least she could've called Winry and Granny. She wouldn't have even known where we were..._ He looked down at his brother, whose face was blank and intense as he watched their childhood friend struggle to keep her ever present smile in front of them. _The things she must've gone through. Brother...what can we do?_

Ed was in shock. He remembered Evenie and Briton Cartwright well. They had been like second parents, in all honesty. Ed and Al had always been welcomed into their home with open arms, and they had always been excited to see their friend when their own mother had announced that they would be going over for a visit. As small children they had all been close-Winry, Letti, Ed, and Al. It was like one big family. It seemed to Ed that every time he looked away for even a second that family was ripped apart even more. His metal hand clenched in its glove. He felt powerless to stop any of it. What if it was one of _them_, next time? He wouldn't be able to stand losing Al, Winry, or even Letti despite their constant bickering.

"Sorry," He ground out through gritted teeth, lowering his gaze. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to look at her at the moment. "I didn't mean to bring something like that up."

Letti's eyes widened as she looked at him. "Whaddaya mean, dummy?" She offered a small smile. For once, it didn't falter. "It's not like you _knew_." With that she stood up from her spot, stretching her arms up over her head and yawning. "Anyway, I've got some junk to pick up for Thierry. You all wanna tag along?"

Ed was kind of surprised by the nonchalant brush-off. A small smile stretched his mouth as he watched the girl. _Guess you're tougher than I give you credit for, He-woman._ "I suppose we could. We only stopped here because Winry wanted to, we don't have much else to do."

"Yeah, and now that we know you're here it'd be nice to catch up some more," Winry added happily, practically bouncing to her feet.

Al chuckled and stood, his armor clanking as he moved. "Yeah, I don't want to leave just yet."

"Then it's settled." Letti grinned with her hands on her hips. "Let's go. I've taken long enough already. He must be wondering what happened to me."

**...**

The bell on the door dinged as the group walked into the spare parts shop. After lots of arguing and asking around, They had finally been able to locate the place where Thierry's order waited.

The small and tubby old man behind the counter gave a warm smile to the four. "Hello, and welcome to my shop. What can I help you with?"

Letti smiled sweetly and replied, "There should be an order for Thierry Marshall?"

The man nodded, "Just came in this morning. _You _must be his new apprentice I've been hearing so much about." He said as he traveled through the shelves and shelves behind the front counter.

"Yes I am!" She said happily.

The man mumbled thoughtfully to himself as he searched and cried out with a "There it is!" when he found it. He lifted a heavy looking box and teetered a bit before making his careful way back to the counter. He searched through some papers before finding a certain one and slid it over. "I just need you to sign this. It's already payed for."

Letti plucked a pen from a tin and signed it in her large and fancy handwriting. "Thanks so much, sir." She said politely, handing it back before heaving the box into her arms.

"Need any help with that?" Al offered kindly.

Letti smiled and shook her head, "I've got it, don't worry." _Just like Alphonse._ She mused with a tinge of nostalgia.

"A she-male like _her _can handle a puny box like _that_," Ed remarked.

Letti twitched and glared over her shoulder at him. "You're lucky my arms are full, you little shit."

Ed growled and brought a fist up threateningly, though he made no move to attack. "Well mine aren't so I'd watch what I say if I were you, He-man!"

"Say it again, Punk!"

"HE-MAN!"

"WOULD YOU TWO STOP IT!?" Winry and Al yelled over them in unison. Sully barked as if in agreement.

The two huffed and turned away from each other as they began walking. Al and Winry gave a sigh of relief each as quiet once again took over. They all walked silently for a while. The bustle of people through the streets never faltered, saving them from complete silence. Every once in a while Winry would stop and gawk at a sleek piece of machinery, but Letti's shaking arms stopped her from staying too long.

It didn't take too long for them to make it back to Thierry's place. Letti tried to balance the box in one arm using her shoulder on one side so she could turn the knob, but the box toppled out of her arm and fell to the ground. It broke open and automail parts scattered across the front doorstep. She scratched the back of her neck with a small chuckle, "_Oopsie_." She said weakly. The other three sweat dropped before sighing and bending to help her gather the pieces.

Winry eyed a bag of screws and smiled, "Hey Ed, these look like _your_...parts..." She trailed off as she realised what she was saying.

Letti's head shot up to eye Edward closely, her expression one of shock and disbelief. "Your..._parts_?"

Ed sent and icy glance towards Winry, who offered a sincere apology. "Let's just get inside first." He averted his eyes and focused on gathering the fallen parts. They continued quietly, no one speaking a word. Once everything was back in the box he wordlessly scooped it up and waited for Letti to open the door. They all filed through the door and Ed set the box onto the table. No one moved after that, and no one spoke.

After a while of staring at the two brothers, Letti turned on a heel and walked into the hall. She stopped at the top of the stairs, looking down into the dimly lit room. "Hey, we're back! Got everything you asked for."

There was the scraping of a wooden stool against linoleum and then footsteps. After a few seconds a grinning Thierry appeared, climbing the steps to the hallway. "Took you a while, huh? Didja get lost?"

Letti gave an embarrassed grin and folded her arms behind her head as she led him into the kitchen. "Well yeah. But I ran into some old friends along the way. I kinda lost track of time while we were catching up." They passed the open archway from the hall into the kitchen to see the Elric brothers and the Rockbell girl standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

Thierry gave a big smile and nodded to them all. "Hey there. The name's Thierry Marshall. Glad to meet you."

Winry stepped forward and gave a charming smile. "Hello there. We're sorry to barge in like this, it was just a surprise to see Letti after all this time and we wanted to catch up some more. I'm Winry Rockbell, and these two are Edward and Alphonse Elric."

Thierry crossed his arms and laughed, "Oh yeah, I've heard stories about you three whenever Letti came over to visit. The Elric brothers and Pinako Rockbell's granddaughter. It's great to finally meet you." He gave a reassuring grin and added, "Don't worry about barging in, either. Any friends of Letti's are welcome here."

Letti gave an embarrassed blush and muttered under her breath. "I didn't talk about them _that _much..."

Winry bowed apologetically, "Thank you so much."

**...**

Winry plucked up the picture on Letti's nightstand and examined it with a wistful smile. "My parents must've been away for this one."

Letti nodded from her spot on her bed. "Yeah I think they were." She scratched behind Sully's ears when he plopped his head onto her thigh.

"So this is your room, huh? Pretty _plain_, if you ask me." Ed murmured, leaning against a bare wall by the small closet.

"Good thing no one asked you, then." Letti gave a sickly sweet smile. Edward rolled his eyes at her.

"I think it's nice. It fits Letti well." Al offered.

Letti gave a small gasp and put a hand to her heart. "You think I'm _plain_, Alphonse? Oh, how could you say such a thing. Ganging up on me with your brother; it's just _too _cruel!" She wiped an imaginary tear from her cheek for added theatrics, but also using her hand to hide her wicked grin.

Al's glowing eyes widened under the shadow of the helmet he wore and be waved his hands frantically, "_No no no_, that isn't what I meant at all! I just-"

"She's only teasing you, Al." Winry smirked at the timid brother.

"_Oh_," His voice wavered in relief, "Gotcha." Ed chuckled at his brother.

Winry paled suddenly as she glanced at the clock on the wall, and in a second her arms were waving as Al's had been a moment ago. "Ahh! We stayed here practically all day, there's no way you guys could catch the last train!"

Ed's eyes widened as realisation hit. "Damn it, I totally _forgot_!"

"Yeah, me too."Al replied. "Now we need to find a place to sleep for the night and try to catch the morning train."

Letti and Sully had been watching this exchange silently, and at this she piped up. "Well, you're already _here_. I don't think Thierry would have a problem if you guys wanted to stay. Winry can take my bed and there's a couch in the basement for when Thierry has a late night and passes out down there."

Winry's eyes sparkled at the thought, "A sleepover just like we had when we were kids."

"I suppose that would work," Ed agreed with a grin. "Whaddaya think, Al?"

"I like the idea," He answered with a single nod of his head.

Letti gave a small laugh and said, "I'll let Thierry know we'll have a few extra mouths to feed tonight." She got up from the bed and did just that.

**...**

That night after dinner-when he was sure everyone had to be asleep-Edward snuck out the front door and sat on the porch step to state up at the stars. He was pretty sure he had dodged the biggest bullet of his life when Letti hadn't gone straight to questioning him about his automail. He wondered if she had forgotten. It wasn't likely-she was more perceptive than that-but he found himself hoping she had.

It had been a shock seeing her again. He hadn't been at all confident he ever would again. He guessed he owed it to Winry. _Gearheads must be attracted magnetically, or something._ He mused to himself, leaning back on two hands. He wouldn't admit to anyone that he had been overly happy to see her again. That would be too embarrassing.

Their relationship had always been a strange one. The way they riled each other up, they _should _have been complete and utter archenemies. But it turned out their tempers complimented each other, somewhat. The arguments-despite appearances-seemed like normal conversations to them; each understood what the other was really saying. The name calling could be terms of endearment or friendly teasing-no one really knew which one. Somehow they just..._worked_.

A creaking door surprised Ed and made him look over his shoulder. _Speak of the devil and he shall appear. I guess that goes for thinking, too. _

Letti savored the warm night air on her bare legs and arms; and smiled as the breeze rustled her thin grey shorts and navy blue tank top. She enjoyed coming out during the night to watch the dark and just think. She had been doing It more often since her parents died. Speaking of _habits _she had picked up recently...

She reached into the waistline of her shorts and pulled out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. She fiddled a small white cylinder out of the pack as she turned around slowly. She plopped down on the step without even noticing Ed.

As for him...he didn't know _why _he didn't alert her to his presence. He didn't know why he just watched her as she stuck a smoke into her mouth and flipped the metal lighter open to ignite a flame. His eyes were just glued to her. Her dark, inky hair was hanging loose over one shoulder. He had never seen her with hair longer than the tips of her ears. Her lips that held the now lit cigarette in place were plump and rosy, her eyes were narrow and dark.

Aside from her face she had also...filled out quite a bit since he had last seen her. _Ah, dammit, what're you thinking. Get your mind outta the damn gutter, Elric! _

He cleared his throat with a small cough. "Since when do _you _smoke?"

Letti let out a yelp to rival that of a wounded dog's. "_Shit_, Elric. When did you get here?"

He smirked, "I asked you first."

She huffed and glared at him. "Since my parents died, actually." Edward cringed and sighed.

He let his bangs hide his eyes. "I was here first, you just couldn't see past your big man hands." He was rewarded with a slug to the arm that almost sent him flying.

He grumbled under his breath, rubbing the sore spot. "Cut it out, would you?! Man hands hurt!"

"Maybe if you would watch your big mouth for once!" She spat back, nursing aching knuckles. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while afterwards. Ed watched smoke clouds absently as Letti blew them into the night. "So..." Letti broke the silence finally, puffing out another cloud, "You gonna explain what happened earlier?"

Ed flinched and felt all his insides recoil. _Dammit._ "What're you talking about?"

"You _know _what."

"I do."

"..."

"..."

"You don't have to. It's your business." Letti said finally, smashing the cig into the dirt. "I'm not gonna force it out of you." _I'm only one of your closest friends. No biggie._ She added silently, unable to completely ignore the wounded feeling she had in her chest.

"..."

She sighed and stood, brushing herself off. "I'm gonna go to bed then. Night, shrimp."

"...ied to...ack." His voice was so quiet that she doubled back and cocked her head to the side.

"Say what, shorty?"

"We tried to bring her back." He said louder this time, his voice hoarse and reluctant.

She had expected as much; what she hadn't expected was that he would actually confide in her. Letti crouched down beside him and rested an elbow on his shoulder. "When I said you didn't have to tell me, I _meant _it. You don't have to do this."

He ignored her. "Our father was gone already and we didn't wanna be alone. So we tried to bring her back. Human transmutation." Letti settled back onto the step and figured she'd sit quietly for once. His face was stone cold and emotionless but she could see pain enough through his eyes. She rested her head on his shoulder comfortingly, a form of support she rarely showed him. "We had prepared everything. We thought we did it so _perfectly_. Nothing should have gone wrong. But it did anyway.

I ended up losing my leg to bring her back. Al lost his whole body. The thing we made wasn't even really her. It was some half-formed abomination that was painful to even look at. It was _suffering_. " He choked out the last word, regret showing in the crease of his brow. "There was a nearby suit of armor that I managed to knock down. I drew a blood seal inside of it to bring Al back. I lost my arm for that." He removed a glove to show a metal hand. His fingers glinted in the moonlight as he curled them into a fist.

Letti was speechless. She could almost physically feel his grief. She reached out slowly to touch it. She let her fingers trace the cool metal of his arm under his sleeve. "_Ed_..."

"I know what you're gonna say. You're going to call us idiots for trying something we should've known wasn't going to work in the first place. You're gonna say that I should've looked out for my younger brother. That I should've taken care of him instead of chasing after a dead parent and trying to play god. As if I haven't heard it a thousand times from a thousand different people. Everyone thinks I'm too _stupid _to understand that much. Everyone thinks I need to hear it just _one _more time."

She stayed quiet. Letti was unsure of what to say to that, truthfully. She brought up a second hand slowly and placed it on his back. She rubbed slow circles into it, as if to reassure him. "You think I'm gonna call you an idiot for wanting your parents?" She gave a choked laugh. A single tear rolled down her cheek, tracing a familiar salty pattern on her skin where so many had passed by before on cold lonely nights much like this one. "You think I don't know how that feels?" She whispered. "You didn't want to be without her. No matter how old we get, we will always be children again in the absence of our parents." She let out another painful laugh and clutched the cloth of his jacket in a fist. "No...you're not idiots. You're human."

A warm arm snaked around the shaking girl's waist and pulled her closer to a muscled body. "It's not your fault, y'know." His voice took on the quiet tone again. She almost missed it.

"What...?" She attempted to sound lighthearted. As if she didn't know what he was talking about.

"C'mon, He-Man, you don't have to be so tough _all _the time."

Letti sniffed and pulled away to wipe her eyes. "Yeah." She chuckled.

He pulled her chin with two fingers so she would look at him. "Listen. It's not your fault. You didn't know, and it isn't your fault."

Letti just stared him straight in the golden eyes and nodded, trying not to burst into sobs. How did he know just the thing to say to turn her into a blubbering mess? "Dummy." She muttered.

A vein appeared on his forehead, about ready to burst. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING DUMMY, YOU TOMBO-"

It was just to shut him up. Nothing more.

At least that's what Letti told herself as she pressed her lips to his softly. _Hey, at least it worked._

Ed was stunned into silence. Frozen in place he tried to decide what to do. And in that time he realised two things.

One: He would be leaving on the morning train tomorrow, and now he wasn't so sure that he wanted to.

Two: Those _definitely _were not man hands pressed onto his thigh.


End file.
